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So Cold the River by Michael Koryta, Narrated by Robert Petkoff

August 13, 2014 by

Source: Complimentary BEA download
Audio, nearly 14 hours
On Amazon and on Kobo

So Cold the River by Michael Koryta, narrated by Robert Petkoff, is mysterious and dark, but at times, it is humorous.  Eric Shaw has lost his movie making career as a photographer/videographer in Los Angeles, forcing him to breathe life into those that have been lost or into inanimate objects for funerals, along with videos of weddings and more.  After crafting a video for a funeral or a woman with a secret that only one other person knows, Eric is sent on a job that makes him question reality.

Alyssa Bradford hires Eric to make a video of her father-in-law’s life, sending him to a once thriving vacation city that has only begun to rebound after the Great Depression when her father-in-law left to make his fortune elsewhere.  West Baden, Ind., is in the middle of nowhere, but it is the home of Pluto water, which was considered a miracle water from a mineral spring.  Campbell Bradford, a 95 year-old billionaire, is a complete mystery … a mystery that Shaw is sent to unravel, but what he finds is not only a town being reborn but also a cast of townsfolk who are wound up tight or too relaxed.  Koryta’s dialogue could use a bit of sprucing up, as some of it is very repetitive with the use of “hell” and the like, but the descriptions of the characters, their interactions, and the mysterious experiences Shaw has are engaging.  The novel takes a great many twists and turns, but there are times when the changes are predictable.  

Robert Petkoff is a fantastic narrator, making sure that the voices and characters are easily discerned and the dialogue easy to follow.  His inflections are Midwestern, and he effectively effuses the emotions of these characters.  So Cold the River by Michael Koryta strikes a balance between suspense/thriller and the paranormal, as Eric Shaw finds himself pulled into the mysteries of Pluto water and a town that fell into financial ruin after the Great Depression.  It’s a satisfying novel to spend the summer with, full of adventure and intrigue.

About the Author:

Michael Koryta is an American author of contemporary crime and supernatural fiction. His novels have appeared on the The New York Times Best Seller list.  Visit his Website.

 

 

46th book for 2014 New Author Challenge.

Filed Under: audiobooks, challenges, fiction, Hachette Books, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Searching for Captain Wentworth by Jane Odiwe

August 12, 2014 by

Source: Author Jane Odiwe
Paperback, 318 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

Searching for Captain Wentworth by Jane Odiwe is a time-traveling romantic novel in which Sophie Elliot uncovers her ancestors connections to her beloved Jane Austen when she visits Bath after a tough break-up with her boyfriend.  Sophie is a young woman adrift after the end of her relationship and when she learns that she didn’t get the job she had hoped.  Traveling to Bath, she has romantic ideas about what this famous city would be, but it is more bustling than she expects, until she reaches her family’s home and finds that she has stepped back in time.

“My family had enjoyed a life of leisure, privilege and wealth, but in my Great-Granmother’s time the First World War changed everything.  The family fortunes dwindled along with the estates, which had had to be sold.  Now, all that remained was a black and white print of Monkford Hall, the manor house that the first Elizabethan queen had given in recognition of services to the crown, which my mother had framed and put in pride of place above what she had jokingly called her other “seat,” in the loo.”  (page 32)

Sophie wanders around Bath and finds a white glove, which she believes must belong to her neighbor, Josh Strafford, who is putting together an exhibit at the local museum.  His eyes are captivating, and his kind manner is endearing, but Sophie is not ready for romance, or so she thinks.  As she uncovers the secrets of her family in the attic and upper rooms of the house in Bath, and a rosewood box she’s given, Sophie falls deeper into the past, becoming a part of it — taking a vacation from reality.  In her vacation from reality, Sophie steps into the life of her namesake, Sophia Elliot, and learns that women are more constrained by society’s expectations than their clothes.

“I looked through the glass, but I couldn’t see Josh.  The dark, heavy doors needed all my weight to move them, but once I’d got them started they swiftly seemed beyond my control to stop.  Very quickly, the doors picked up a frightening speed and started to spin so rapidly it was impossible to make any attempt to get out.  Faster and faster they turned, moving with a force all of their own.  No matter how much I shifted my weight to lean against the one behind, nothing would slow the increasing acceleration of the revolving doors.  i clung to the brass rail with fear, shutting my eyes tight because I felt so giddy and nauseous.  It was only when the sensation completely stopped that I dared to open them.”  (page 82)

Searching for Captain Wentworth by Jane Odiwe is about the love we seek when it sometimes is right in front of us.  Sophie must learn how to stand on her own, to know what she wants, and to reach out and grab it while she can.  Only when she has the resolve to be happy, can she truly take advantage of the opportunities and happiness before her.  Odiwe writes this time-travel novel in a way that makes it believable and readers will be as swept up in the past as Sophie Elliot.

About the Author:

Jane Odiwe is an artist and author. She is an avid fan of all things Austen and is the author and illustrator of Effusions of Fancy, consisting of annotated sketches from the life of Jane Austen. She lives with her husband and three children in North London.  Check out Jane Odiwe’s blog here.

Other reviews of this author’s work:

Filed Under: fiction, Read in 2014, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Jane Austen’s First Love by Syrie James

August 6, 2014 by

Source: NetGalley
Paperback, 400 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

Jane Austen’s First Love by Syrie James takes readers back into Jane Austen’s teen years, between the time she is a young girl free to play and the time she comes out and becomes a woman.  While her sister Cassandra and she share everything and every confidence, there are some tender emotions that are too new and sacred to share right away — that of a first love.  Jane Austen is 15 when she is given an unprecedented opportunity to attend a ball and a month of festivities in Kent to celebrate her brother Edward’s nuptials before she comes out to society.  Things are not all that they seem to a young girl who longs to be out with her sister and share in all the activities Cassandra does.  James paints a picture of Austen that is lively and young, as she enthusiastically takes on challenges before her — to prove herself not only to others but to herself — and enjoys every event set before her.

“My anticipation of the expected visitors was shared by Louisa, Charles, and Brook Edward, who kept running to the window to ascertain if they could perceive a hint of an impending arrival.”  (ARC)

Jane is ever the observer of human nature, actions, and character, even at the young age of 15, but even though she observes carefully, her interpretations are not always as accurate as she presumes them to be.  Meeting the lively and enigmatic Edward Taylor, Jane is besotted as any young girl would be who finds someone she admires in looks and in intelligence.  But he also challenges her outlook on society and its traditions, as well as her own role in that society.  James has created a complex relationship that could have happened in real life, and perhaps helped to shape Austen’s views on society, love, and more.

“We are a living part of history!” cried Edward Taylor.  “We are making history this very moment.” (ARC)

James weaves in not only the facts of Kent, her real brother’s marriage to Elizabeth Bridges, and many other characters, but the events and paraphrased lines of Austen’s very own novels.  James cannot be praised enough for her ingenuity and dedication to the spirit of Austen and her novels.  She pays tribute to a young Jane in the best way possible.  Jane Austen’s First Love by Syrie James is the author’s best novel yet, and a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction, Jane Austen, or coming of age stories.  This is a definite contender for the 2014 Best Reads List.

About the Author:

Syrie James, hailed by the Los Angeles Magazine as the queen of nineteenth century re-imaginings, is the bestselling author of eight critically acclaimed novels, including The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte, Nocturne, Dracula My Love, Forbidden, and The Harrison Duet: SONGBIRD and PROPOSITIONS. Her books have been translated into eighteen foreign languages.

In addition to her work as a novelist, Syrie is a screenwriter, a member of the Writers Guild of America, and a life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. An admitted Anglophile, she loves romance and all things 19th Century. To learn more about Syrie, visit her online at www.syriejames.com, Follow Syrie on Facebook.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Regulators by Richard Bachman (a.k.a. Stephen King)

July 30, 2014 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 466 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

The Regulators by Richard Bachman, a.k.a. Stephen King, is like stepping onto the set of The Twilight Zone, from aliens and horrifying mutant animals to shootouts at the Ponderosa and/or O.K. Corral.  Something is not right with this idyllic town of Wentworth, Ohio, and its residents on Poplar Street.  With a cast of characters ranging from a cheating wife to an alcoholic husband and father, King packs in a wide-ranging cast that also includes a Vietnam veteran turned kid’s author and an ex-cop thrown off the force for allegedly being on the take.  There are the twin teen boys and their girlfriends and the local paper boy with big dreams for his baseball career, but there is something seedy underneath this neighborhood and things are about to go haywire.

King always sets the reader up with a typical neighborhood minding its own business and sometimes it’s in the height of summer when dreams are the biggest and relaxation is high on the priority list.  But with these settings, atmospheres, and scenes in place, readers know that things are about to take a turn for the worse, and when they start turning, they begin spiraling down a rabbit hole.

“Peter rose to his feet like an old clockwork toy with rust in its gears.  His eyeballs jiggled in the silver dreamlight from the TV.” (page 256)

What would the world look like through an autistic boy’s eyes, and how could that world be twisted in the hands of a being with no conscience?  Seth Garin is that autistic boy and his world has become even more like a prison than before when he merely had trouble communicating with his family, but soon he learns that the prison he finds himself in could also lead to his freedom.  King packs so many characters into this novel, illustrating depravity and hysteria on any number of levels, but what’s engaging are the scenes where Seth’s favorite characters come to life and take to the streets.  The devastation they bring with them, on the other hand, is harrowing and graphic.

King’s narration shifts point of view on many occasions, making it hard for the reader to hold onto the sequential story, but in many ways this may have been purposeful — to give the reader the same sense of timelessness that the characters endure.  The Regulators by Richard Bachman, a.k.a. Stephen King, is like a comic book and western sprung to life, but only if it were run by a madman director bent on killing everything and absorbing all of its energy.

About the Author/Pen Name (source: Wikipedia):

King states that adopting the nom de plume Bachman was also an attempt to make sense out of his career and try to answer the question of whether his success was due to talent or luck. He says he deliberately released the Bachman novels with as little marketing presence as possible and did his best to “load the dice against” Bachman. King concludes that he has yet to find an answer to the “talent versus luck” question, as he felt he was outed as Bachman too early to know.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, fiction, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Love, Accidentally by Sarah Pekkanen

July 29, 2014 by

Source: Kindle Freebie
e-short story, 40 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

Love, Accidentally by Sarah Pekkanen follows her short-e-story All Is Bright (my review), telling the other side of the story from Ilsa Brown‘s point of view, rather than that of Elise Andrews.  Between these two short stories, the love triangle between these characters is real, but not as fleshed out as they would be in a full-length novel.

Ilsa Brown is a veterinarian and she meets Grif by chance in a park where his foster-dog, Fabio, has been injured.  They grow fond of each other, but Ilsa is cautious when her sister’s solid marriage loses its footing.  It makes her wonder how much Grif regrets his past break-up with Elise.  Pekkanen is adept at navigating the fragile balance of male-female relationships, especially when a break-up has recently occurred and one of the pair is still healing.  Ilsa is a strong woman, but she also realizes that the past must be embraced in order for the future to be clear.

“To hide her confusion, she did what came naturally: She reached out with her strong, thin fingers–the two crescent-shaped scars on the back of her right hand gleaming pale and smooth–and began to examine the little mixed-breed dog.”

Both new to Los Angeles, Grif and Ilsa hit it off over their love of animals and pizza, and their relationship moves at a fast pace.  But Ilsa is never more aware of taking things one step at a time as when she talks with her sister, Corrine, about him or when her sister talks about her marriage.  Pekkanen’s prose is simple and captivating in building up the romance in a short amount of time, but it’s her characters that will keep readers engaged because they are not two-dimensional.  Love, Accidentally by Sarah Pekkanen is about how love can hit at the most unexpected times and how it needs to be nurtured and understood in order to flourish.  Readers may want more from these characters, and perhaps the author will weave them into a full-length novel.

About the Author:

Sarah is the mother of three boys, which explains why she wrote part of her novel at Chuck E. Cheese. Seriously. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true. At least some dreams – Brad Pitt has yet to show up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a toolbelt and asking if she needs anything fixed. So maybe it’s only G-rated dreams that come true. Please visit her Website.

Filed Under: chicklit, fiction, purchased, Read in 2014, reviews, short stories Tagged With: , , , ,

Pies & Peril by Janel Gradowski

July 23, 2014 by

Source: Janel Gradowski, the author
ebook, 192 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

Pies & Peril: A Culinary Competition Mystery by Janel Gradowski is punchy and fun, a perfect read for kicking back on a rainy day or on the beach during the summer.  While “beach read” is often a looked down on term, these are the kinds of books readers crave when they want pure entertainment and to enjoy characters and their stories.  Gradowski’s characters are not like those in typical cozy mysteries; they have good heads on their shoulders, are professional, and are not throwing themselves in harm’s way without thinking things through first.  Amy Ridley is no dumb blonde. She’s focused to win every culinary baking contest she enters, but when things go awry for her former friend and now baking nemesis, Mandy Jo, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of her death.

“The physical side effects of becoming a triple champion made her feel like she had been caught in a stampede of tap dancers from Ms. Carrie’s Dance Academy.” (ARC)

“Okay.  Dirty dishes didn’t talk, but she couldn’t stand to see them sitting there, like batter coated chore devils perched on her shoulder.” (ARC)

Amy is spunky and determined to uncover the truth, but she’s also aware that there should be boundaries to her tenacious search for a killer.  She’s lurking in corners to eavesdrop and running into clues, but she’s also wise enough to know that she should be careful and scared of the killer who is writing her threatening notes.  Her friend Carla is a doll, and readers will enjoy their banter as they go over some of Amy’s theories about the murder and her even more outrageous theories behind the murder.  Gradowski’s style is filled with humor and characterization; readers will get to know these characters in such a short period of time, it will feel like they are friends known for much longer.  The author has a way of packing in a lot of background and characterization in a small space, making it easier to flow with the relationships and the story as it unfolds.

“… The Cookbook Nook.  Not a single auto repair or vampire book could be found on the shelves.  Just cookbooks.  Glorious, fascinating cookbooks.” (ARC)

Pies & Peril: A Culinary Competition Mystery by Janel Gradowski will have readers’ mouths watering, and it includes recipes at the end to keep those taste buds dreaming.  Cozy mysteries may drive some readers crazy for their dopey heroines that carry their infants into dangerous situations or just rush headlong into places they shouldn’t as they investigate mysteries, but Gradowski has found the perfect balance between the cozy mystery formula and strong heroines that leave the tough stuff up to the cops.

About the Author:

Janel Gradowski lives in a land that looks like a cold weather fashion accessory, the mitten­-shaped state of Michigan. She is a wife and mom to two kids and one Golden Retriever. Her journey to becoming an author is littered with odd jobs like renting apartments to college students and programming commercials for an AM radio station. Somewhere along the way she also became a beadwork designer and teacher. She enjoys cooking recipes found in her formidable cookbook and culinary fiction collection. Searching for unique treasures at art fairs, flea markets and thrift stores is also a favorite pastime. Coffee is an essential part of her life. She writes the Culinary Competition Mystery Series, along with The Bartonville Series (women’s fiction) and the 6:1 Series (flash fiction). She has also had many short stories published in both online and print publications.  Check her Website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.  Check out her books.

Other books by this author, reviewed here:

Filed Under: ARC, chicklit, fiction, Read in 2014, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax

July 9, 2014 by

Source: Berkley Books
Paperback, 416 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax is like getting together with old friends — Nikki, Avery, Deidre, Kyra, and Maddie.  These renovation gurus are back shooting another season of their Lifetime television series, Do Over, but the next location is a surprise hidden in the Florida Keys.

(If you haven’t read the previous books in this series, this review could contain spoilers for previous books.)

Nikki and her man, Joe, seem to be on the right track, but she’s still got commitment issues after the brother she raised was sent to prison for his Ponzi scheme that took her money and those of her clients.  Meanwhile, Kyra and her son Dustin are adjusting to her mother’s new life as a 50+ single woman.  Maddie’s decided that its best to leave a sinking ship, and her ex-husband seems nonplussed about the break up.  Avery and Chase are still playing house and she’s still shutting out her mother, but the tensions are less on these pairings and more about Maddie and her search for a new life.  Like the name of their show implies, life is full of second chances, and many of these ladies have been given theirs in more ways than one.  Maddie is just the latest who needs to spread her wings.

“Close up, the house was far larger than they’d been able to discern from the water and in far worse shape.  The board-and-batten siding was not just devoid of paint but had been badly pummeled by the elements.  Like a boxer who’d gone one too many rounds, the house almost seemed to be standing upright from sheer force of will.  Of possibly from habit.” (page 51)

Mermaid Point, their next renovation project, is hidden on a private island, and private is how ex-rocker William Hightower would like to keep it.  Like the house, Hightower is a battered rocker who’s looking to redeem himself, just as some of these ladies have picked themselves out of the dumps and started new.  Hightower has a lot of repairing to do, from his relationship with his son to his ability to connect with people who want to get close to him.  There’s a lot of gentle nudging as they scrape the layers off the old wood to smooth it down, but as Hightower lets down his walls he’s struck by what’s been missing in his life — a sense of belonging and of family.  Like his home, he transforms little by little coming out from the jungle and the weathered walls to expose himself to scrutiny and relationships he never thought possible.

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax is a great summer beach read; these ladies will make you laugh, make you cry, but most of all want to hold all of your friends close.  Avery, Maddie, Deidre, Kyra, and Nikki all face their troubles head on, even if it is with a little push from their friends.  These ladies are ready to take on the next big challenge, and readers will be ready to go with them on their next adventure.

About the Author:

Award-winning author Wendy Wax has written eight novels, including Ocean Beach, Ten Beach Road, Magnolia Wednesdays, the Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist The Accidental Bestseller, Leave It to Cleavage, Single in Suburbia and 7 Days and 7 Nights, which was honored with the Virginia Romance Writers Holt Medallion Award. Her work has sold to publishers in ten countries and to the Rhapsody Book Club, and her novel, Hostile Makeover, was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine.

A St. Pete Beach, Florida native, Wendy has lived in Atlanta for fifteen years. A voracious reader, her enjoyment of language and storytelling led her to study journalism at the University of Georgia. She also studied in Italy through Florida State University, is a graduate of the University of South Florida, and worked at WEDU-TV and WDAE-Radio in Tampa.

Also Reviewed:

Giveaway for 1 copy of The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax for 1 U.S. resident.  Leave a comment below by July 16 by 11:59 PM EST.

Filed Under: chicklit, fiction, giveaway, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2014, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

All Is Bright by Sarah Pekkanen

June 24, 2014 by

Source: Kindle Freebie
E-story, 47 pages
On Amazon and on Kobo

All Is Bright by Sarah Pekkanen is an e-short story about a young woman, Elise Andrews, who lets her childhood sweetheart go because she cannot bring herself to say “Yes” to his marriage proposal.  Visiting over the Christmas holidays all the way from San Francisco while her father is away on a whirlwind world tour, Elise hears a voice from her past, Janice, her ex-boyfriend Griffin’s mother.  Elise is there to check on the house and visit her Nana in the nursing home.  Chicago is much colder than her new home, but she misses it still.  Growing up without a mother, Elise leaned on Janice quite a bit, and whether or not she was in love with Griffin — with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship — she’s always felt a connection to his mother.

“Another Janice memory: Her questions tumbled over one another like socks in a spinning dryer.”

Her time in Chicago is short, but she reconnects with Janice, only to feel that their connection is being ripped away.  While the story ends on a hopeful note, it feels like there is more to this story.  What happens to Janice and Elise’s relationship now that she’s no longer with Griffin, and will she and Griffin remain friends even as they both move on?  All Is Bright by Sarah Pekkanen touches upon the connections we make and the love we share with others, as well as how those relationships change over time.

About the Author:

Sarah is the mother of three boys, which explains why she wrote part of her novel at Chuck E. Cheese. Seriously. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true. At least some dreams – Brad Pitt has yet to show up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a toolbelt and asking if she needs anything fixed. So maybe it’s only G-rated dreams that come true. Please visit her Website.

Filed Under: fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, reviews, short stories, Simon & Schuster Tagged With: , ,

A Long Time Gone by Karen White

June 10, 2014 by

Source: Penguin
Hardcover, 432 pages
On Amazon, on Kobo

A Long Time Gone by Karen White is the quintessential novel with a multigenerational family saga, southern  charm, and mystery wrapped up in one package.  Vivien Walker is the latest generation of Walker women to chase ghosts and leave the Mississippi Delta for parts unknown, but she’s also a lot more like her mother Carol Lynne than she thinks.  Love is boundless among these women who care for vegetables and family with the same careful hands, nurturing them until they are ready to take to their own journeys.  Vivien comes back to Mississippi after her marriage to a plastic surgeon fails miserably, but she’s hopeful that her grandmother, Bootsie, can help pick up the pieces.

“I was born in the same bed that my mama was born in, and her mama before her, and even further back than anybody alive could still remember.  It was as if the black wood of the bedposts were meant to root us Walker women to this place of flat fields and fertile soil carved from the Great Mississippi.  But like the levees built to control the mighty river, it never held us for long.”  (page 1)

Vivien’s childhood was peppered with short visits from her mother, as she left on another adventure in the 1960s.  She grew to resent her mother’s absences and when she left her childhood home for California, she didn’t look back for nine years.  Upon her return, Vivien is unsure how she feels about her mother’s presence and the loss of so much, including a beloved family member.  Vivien must learn to reach out of the fog that keeps her docile and deal not only with her past, but the future as well.  White’s characters are always complex, and while not without faults, nearly always easy to cheer for.  Vivien has lived too much in the past, and she must realize that she cannot go back and change things, but move forward with greater purpose and conviction.

“I wonder how far from Mississippi I have to get before I forget about the place I came from.  My memories of home are like a river, and I spend a lot of time fighting the current that’s always trying to take me back.”  (page 189)

Told in shifting point of views between the 2000s and the 1920s, plus the 1960s diary entries of Carol Lynne, White builds the past through the eyes that saw it happen, peppering it with parallels to the future in Vivien’s life path.  Weaving in elements of history from hidden genealogy of mixed race children, bootleggers, KKK, and the 1960s freedom rides and hippie days, White has created an engaging and informative novel about the trials each of us faces in our own families and how even outside forces can influence those lives in unforeseen and unexpected ways.  A Long Time Gone by Karen White is about the long road some of us can take to find our homes and feel our family connections deeply even when we’re away.  It’s about forgiveness and love, and how it can tether us together even miles from home.

About the Author:

Known for award-winning novels such as Learning to Breathe, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance 2009 Book of the Year Award finalist The House on Tradd Street, the highly praised The Memory of Water, the four-week SIBA bestseller The Lost Hours, Pieces of the Heart, and her IndieBound national bestseller The Color of Light, Karen has shared her appreciation of the coastal Low country with readers in four of her last six novels.

Italian and French by ancestry, a southerner and a storyteller by birth, Karen has made her home in many different places.  Visit the author at her website, and become a fan on Facebook.

19th book for 2014 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2014 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, fiction, historical fiction, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

Black Lake by Johanna Lane

June 3, 2014 by

Source: Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover, 224 pages
On Amazon, on Kobo

Black Lake by Johanna Lane is set in Northern Ireland at the Campbell estate of Dulough, which translates to Black Lake.  A pool, a cold lake, hills, valleys, mountains, cottages, and a massive estate would seem overwhelming to any newlywed, and it is hard to believe that it can be run by just three people — John Campbell, Mary Connelly, and Francis Connelly.  Woven with alternate points of view, Lane provides the reader with a well-rounded view of the hardships this family faces.  Young Philip is named after the first ancestor who built Dulough and threw out the Irish tenants after the Great Famine, and he has a legacy that weighs heavily on his head, but he’s not the only Campbell to feel the weight of family history in this place.  Will the deal with the government be enough to keep the family estate in tact or will the deal break this family from its moorings.

“Finally, he began clearing a patch of brambles and thistles; their roots went deep into the earth and he had to be content with lopping them off at ground level rather than pulling them out altogether.” (page 66-7 ARC)

John is a quiet man who knows how to deal with solitude in the Irish country, but his wife Marianne must grow accustom to the quieter life after living so long in Dublin.  His ability to be alone becomes a detriment in matters of his family, though he does enjoy schooling the children at home.  His relationship with his wife is enigmatic because he is less expressive, and she passively follows his lead until she reaches a breaking point.

“The whole painting gave the impression that Dulough might be engulfed at any moment, the lake rising to envelop the house, the sea covering the island, and the land reclaimed, the work of his ancestor obliterated.” (page 194 ARC)

Deep beneath the surface of this family are hidden bonds that only can surface in tragedy and loss.  From a man who is backed into a corner to maintain a large estate without the inheritance to do so to wife and son who have come to love their home as much, if not more, than their ancestors.  Black Lake by Johanna Lane is by turns as dreary as the rainy countryside and as dangerous as the quick-footed tide that nearly swallows the island where the estate church and graveyard lie.  Readers will be swept away by Lane’s frail family and their struggles.

About the Author:

Johanna Lane was born in Ireland, studied English Literature in Scotland, and earned her MFA at Columbia University. She teaches composition and creative writing in New York City.  Check out her Pinterest board for the book.

12th book for 2014 European Reading Challenge; (Set in Ireland)

 

 

 

 

32nd book for 2014 New Author Challenge.

 

 

 

 

2nd book for the Ireland Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2014 European Reading Challenge, ARC, challenges, fiction, Hachette Books, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Midsummer by Carole Giangrande

May 29, 2014 by

Source: Inanna Poetry and Fiction Series and TLC Book Tours
Paperback, 150 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Midsummer by Carole Giangrande is a poetic novella that settles the reader into the complexities of an immigrant family from Italy — a brother who chooses to stay in America and make his way in finance and a sister who returns to Italy to begin a life with her successful husband.  Nonno Lorenzo came to America and dug the New York City subway tunnels, only to land his pickaxe on the hull of a missing ship — Tijger — that was caught on an old shoreline.  Beneath his working class roots in America, the man was a visionary artist who never became famous, but he begets a number of dreamers, including a granddaughter who has suffered the most along the way — losing family and friendship.

“‘One day,’ said my aunt, ‘I would like you to hear my stories in Italian.’
‘But you grew up in America,’ I said.
‘The stories grew up somewhere else,’ she replied.”  (page 14)

Giangrande navigates memory and emotion carefully, guiding the reader outside the prime maritime routes into the deepest seas of human connection, with one’s family.  The intersection of Joy’s family and that of her husband, Adrian, comes together just as her grandfather discovered a lost Dutch ship beneath the Twin Towers in New York City.  Through family legends and a shared language, Giangrande weaves a story steeped in myth and love, despite tragedy.

“A creature trapped in a pretty, long necked bottle, a frantic beating of wings against glass, waiting for deft fingers, the touch of his hand to release her.  I sensed she enjoyed her entrapment for the moment of release it brought.” (page 53)

Joy and her family are caught in their own silences, unable to utter apologies even though they exist without being uttered.  Lorenzo’s ability to see into the future through his painting has left the family with a haunted legacy, but it is clear that the legacy will be ever-lasting.  Like a painting that comes to life, Midsummer by Carole Giangrande is like the longest-day of summer in families when tragedy saddens everyone in different ways, regrets threaten to bring members to their knees, and forgiveness is a shining beacon that can save them all.

About the Author:

Born and raised in the New York City area, Carole Giangrande now resides in Toronto, Canada. Her novella, A Gardener On The Moon was co-winner of the 2010 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest, and is published by Quattro Books. She’s the author of two novels (An Ordinary Star and A Forest Burning), a short story collection (Missing Persons), all published by Cormorant, and two non-fiction books. Her new novella, Midsummer, will be published in April 2014 by Inanna. She’s worked as a broadcast journalist for CBC Radio (Canada’s public broadcaster), and her fiction, articles and reviews have appeared in Canada’s major journals and newspapers. Her 50-part literary podcast Words to Go has been downloaded over 20,000 times in 30 countries. She comments as The Thoughtful Blogger, and she’s recently completed a novel. She’s a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.

Find out more about Carole at her website, connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and find her on Goodreads.

30th book for 2014 New Author Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2014, review copy, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: , ,

Death With Interruptions by Jose Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa

May 8, 2014 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 238 pages
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Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, (on Kobo) reads like a fable with the anthropomorphization of dogs and death.  Saramago’s style lacks punctuation, dialogue separations, and other grammatical elements that many readers come to rely upon, but in this case, these omissions are done with purpose.  Once readers immerse themselves into the narrative, these grammatical signals are not warranted.  The “what-if” scenario in this novel is what would happen if death took a vacation, and no one died — but remained just on the cusp of death and life, unable to improve and get better and unable to fully pass away. 

What transpires is a country in chaos, hospitals overflowing with patients in a sort of stasis before death and nursing homes unable to care for all of the ailing in the most dignified way.  His prose is heavy handed against the government, religion, and business, as well as human nature in general, particularly when explaining the motivations behind the care and disposal of the living-dead.  The absurdity of the scenario and the satire are focused heavily on the internal decision makers and the elite of the church bureaucracy.  Readers will either find his prose humorous in his treatment of these elements, or they will be confused or taking it too seriously that they find the story too limited in scope or too focused on the mundane.

“And then, as if time had stopped, nothing happened.  The queen mother neither improved nor deteriorated, she remained there in suspension, her frail body hovering on the very edge of life, threatening at any moment to tip over onto the other side, yet bound to this side by a tenuous thread to which, out of some strange caprice, death, because it could only have been death, continued to keep hold.” (page 3)

Amidst the heavy handed and grim dealings of the government, religion, and medical fields to deal with the crisis of no on being able to die and be buried, Saramago offers readers a look at the darker side of humanity following an initial euphoria that immortality had been achieved.  A deeply philosophical fable, this novel is almost of two minds — focused on the human institutions and their reaction in one half and then focused on the reasons why death has ceased and wanted a vacation from it all.  While the latter half of the book is very reminiscent of those old myths about the gods falling for humans, Saramago never loses sight of who death is and how manipulative and tactless she can be.  She’s romancing a cellist, but in the only way death can, with veiled threats of harm and mystery about her intentions.  Some readers will either love the last third of the book or find it too cliche.

Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa — our April book club selection — examines what it means to face death or the knowledge of death, whether you get your affairs in order and atone for past sins or go out in a blaze of glory.  Saramago will have readers questioning their own mortality.

What the Book Club Thought:

The book club was all over the place with this one, with some really finding it humorous, a few not even finishing the book, and a few others that simply hated it.  While many abhorred the writing style, others didn’t mind it as much, but wanted a more impactful story about individual families or characters — they wanted to see the more human side of things.  None of the members agreed on who the narrator could be, though some suspected God, the Scythe, or Love as the narrators.  While I was dealing with a toddler during this meeting and a migraine, I probably missed a lot of the discussion, which is unfortunate for me, since I’ve read a few of this novelist’s books before and may have been able to help with a bit of the background, etc. for him and his writing.  There is definitely a great number of issues to talk about and definitely will raise dilemmas, but the members will have to get through the book first.

About the Author:

José de Sousa Saramago (1922–2010) was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.  His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor rather than the officially sanctioned story. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. He founded the National Front for the Defense of Culture (Lisbon, 1992) with among others Freitas-Magalhaes. He lived on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, where he died in June 2010.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, fiction, Read in 2014, reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,